Kia's Tale
by Chakat StarDust
Summary: The long awaited history of my OCs Kia and Aly!
1. Chapter 1

Wolf: Here we have the tale of Kia and Aly, as promised. It is somewhat of a continuation from the story Magic War, and so I urge readers to have a look at that before coming here, though the continuity of the story will not show until the end. Anyway, this story is written as though from Kia's point of view, almost as a journal. Please enjoy and remember that I do not own any characters or plots that come from either Yugioh or Shaman King, I only own my characters, and my plot.

Journey Began

My name is Kia Quickpaw, sometimes known as Kia the Ageless. The honorific is well-used, for I have lived a long, long time. I do not know my exact year of birth, but I do know that I was born around 3400BCE, as it is known now. Like I have said, it has been a long, long life.

I was born in the forests of what is now called Europe. More specifically I have recently discovered that the region that I once called home is now what is known as Romania. My people were lupine, like I, a clan of wolf shape-shifters.

We were primitive, but we were happy with what our lives had to offer us, despite tales of the prosperity and strangeness of lands to the south in the hot, hot sands. We were nomads, hunters and gatherers. Because of our nature as wolves we operated as a pack, hunting together, moving together, singing together. It was a good life.

My mother was Seer to our clan, and died birthing me. My people hoped that her gift would pass on to me, but alas, though I could sense great changes and events to come, my vision was clouded, and I knew not when, how or what these things that I sensed would come to be. I was not forsaken for this fact, no, for all children are sacred, and so I began to learn the ways of the medicine man of our clan.

We knew of other creatures like us, those that are called supernatural. We respected the griffins, the dragons and centaurs that shared the forests we roamed, and they respected us in return. We did not have much to do with other species though in those days.

This was a simpler time. The humans that shared the places we lived viewed us as forest spirits, or children of gods or spirits, and treated us with respect, though they also feared us; in time that fear would overwhelm their respect and lead them to drive us into the shadows... but I digress.

It was when I had seen my eighteenth summer that we began to hear of people being captured and driven south, to be sold. Of course, the very idea of slaves was foreign to us. If we came upon enemies we killed them or integrated them as full members of the clan, we'd no need of servants of any kind in our nomadic lives. We paid little attention to the rumours, comfortable in our lives as we were.

In the fall of that year I began to sense something foreboding on the horizon, a bad something that was to come. Of course, I'd no idea what that something was, all I knew was that the sensation loomed over like an ever-present black cloud that only I could see. My people knew that though my vision was clouded, it had proved true before, and so were on high alert. Alas, all the preparations would not save them.

The attack came in the night. They were wolves, like us, which was why we did not realize the danger until the first man was killed. Then all was pandemonium. The men attempted to get the women and children out, but the other wolves just killed them in a manner unlike our kind. We do not kill without cause, we prefer to fight and let the spoils go to the victor, but these, they killed without quarrel, but only the men.

Us women and children changed and tried to escape into the forest, but we were caught and strange collars forced around our necks that made us change back into our weaker, human forms. We begged and pleaded with them, they were still our kind after all, but they did not speak or even favour us with kind glances.

Those of us that were captured were bound with our hands behind our backs and our feet bound in such a way that we could walk, but only in short, jerky steps. We were forced to walk, all through the night, frightened and tired. Only when the stars were beginning to fade were we allowed a few hours rest, but then we were back on our feet, stumbling and crying as we were forced along.

After several days of this, walking and resting, our captors handed us over to new men. These men unlike we had seen before, bronzed skinned and dark haired, like figures sculpted out of wood. These men looked us all over before taking us, allowing our captors to keep any that they felt were not up to standards. I was one of the ones they took with them and we headed south once more.

The journey was long, but our new captors were a little gentler than the previous. Though we could not understand their speech, they made themselves clear with gestures and swift punishments when their orders were not followed fast enough.

The land slowly grew hotter and stranger to our eyes. Great deserts and mountains, the likes we had never seen before passed before our bewildered eyes, day after day. Some died on the journey, and their bodies were left for the animals to pick clean. We could not make the proper arrangements, were not allowed time to mourn, and we wondered amongst ourselves what barbarians these people were.

The desert land once again gave way to fertile ground, but the plants and creatures that occupied this place were strange to us. It seemed as though we had entered an entirely different world from the one that we had left behind. More prisoners were added to our group and goods were exchanged between those giving, and those receiving, as payment.

The people that joined us were a mixed lot. Some had bronzed skin like our jailers, some were pale like us, and some had skin such a rich, deep brown that we all marvelled and wondered what gods had created these earthy creatures. Not any of them spoke the same as us, and yet we shared a companionship, one born of mutual circumstances.

As time went on, we encountered more of the bronze-skinned people, either on carts, walking or working in fields by the rivers. They called and laughed, and though we knew not what they were saying, we knew that they were jeering at our misfortune. What a cruel place, we lamented, that people would be treated as thus. We'd no idea that there would be worse in store, but I am getting ahead of myself again.

Many days and nights had passed, with us growing thinner, wearier and dirtier, from the time that our clan was raided, and finally we were able to behold the place that was our final destination. At first we thought our eyes were deceiving us, but it soon became clear that we were seeing a collection of stone buildings, all in one place, bustling with people in numbers far greater than any of us had seen in one place at one time. And thus I arrived at the great city of Uruk, in the ancient land of Mesopotamia.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	2. Chapter 2

Wolf: I'm not going to state my usual disclaimer, because this time I actually own stuff! The only time I will write a disclaimer is if characters from either YGO or SK show up.

Fateful Meetings

Ahh, so we've come to the city. How can I explain how confusing it is for someone who's known only small villages of wood, canvas or caves to see this white-stoned monolith that sprawled beside the lazy, sunlit river? It was frightening, because there were so many things we did not understand, and no one to explain it to us.

We were driven into the city, into the heat, the noise and the crowd like cattle to the slaughter. Looking back on it I suppose it was a slaughter in a way, a slaughter of innocence and freedom. We were led into a large, open square in the middle of the city and made to stand on a raised platform, while the bronze-skinned denizens of the city gawked and stared.

One of the men began calling out, pointing at one of us and the people in the crowd would answer. One by one each of us was bought by some member of the crowd and dragged off by their new masters. When it came time for my turn the announcer paid special attention to my wild, snow-white hair, apparently thinking it a good selling point. The crowd bickered back and forth for a couple minutes, each putting in higher and higher offers, before finally, I was led away myself.

I was taken further into the city, almost to the front steps of the palace itself before I was taken into my new home. It was a nobleman's house, so it was large with multiple rooms and ornamentation not seen in the lower classes. The odd thing was that the building had no windows to speak of, the inside was lit entirely by torches.

I was taken to a small enclosure at the back and my hands were untied, but the collar around my neck was attached to a heavy rope tied to a pole in the ground. My hands were then tied back in front of me and I was left with a guard to watch me and the other girl tied to the pole. I only realized that she was there when she let out a tiny sob.

I turned to look at her. She was paler than I, her skin like milk and her wide eyes were black as thunderclouds. Her wild, long hair was scarlet, though it was tangled and dirty. She was small, probably only about eleven or twelve years old.

"Hello." I said to her gently. She babbled something in a tongue I could not understand and burst into a fresh wave of tears. That at least I understood, and I did my best with my bound hands to embrace her, slipping my arms over her head and pulling her close. The guard watched me warily, hand on his spear, but he made no move to stop my attempt to comfort her.

When she stopped trying, I attempted to communicate with her once again. "Kia." I said, tapping my chest. She cocked her head at the strange gesture, regarding me with bright, bird-like eyes. "Kia." I repeated, beating my chest for emphasis. She seemed to understand that time, and tapped her own chest.

"Aly." She said in a soft, sweet voice. I repeated the name, because it was pretty and I wanted something pretty to have in the strange, ugly world that I'd been brought into. She nodded her head and then nuzzled into my chest, seeking comfort from me. I rest my head on hers and feel the gentle heartbeat beneath my hands around her chest.

It's hot and dry and having a body pressed against me did not help the heat, but I was unwilling to let Aly go, unwilling to deprive her of the only comfort she could receive in that place. The hours dragged on as we sat there under the unforgiving sun, neither of us knowing what was going to happen to us, but hoping they wouldn't separate us from the one person we knew was not going to hurt us.

It was not until after the sun set, and unfamiliar stars wheeled ahead that our new master emerged. He was an older man, middle-aged, with a sagging gut and thick jowls. He had salt-and-pepper short chopped hair, no facial hair and cruel, watery pale brown eyes.

I did not need to press my hand against his chest to know that no heart beat within and that the lungs did not draw breath. My senses told me immediately what this monster was. Our people called them the Bloodthirsters, because they sought after the blood of the living for their appetites to be quenched. My new master, of course, was a vampire.

I growled at the vampire and hugged Aly closer, glaring at him. He watched the two of us, and then he focussed on Aly. He grinned predatorily, licking his lips in a manner that made my skin crawl. I held Aly closer, protectively and growled louder, warning him to stay back. The vampire barked something at the guard and the guard moved to rip Aly away from me.

I stood and ran to the end of the rope, snarling and yelling at them to let her go. The collar bit into my neck, drawing blood, but I hardly noticed it as Aly screamed and cried, reaching out for me. She was brought into the house and I was kicked to the ground for the master to inspect me better. He regarded me in more of a bored manner and said something dismissively, waving his hand before heading back inside.

An older woman, merely a human came outside and untied me, speaking in soothing tones that I did not understand. I tried to pull away, tried to go and find Aly, go and protect her, but the woman was stronger than me, and I was weak from days of little food, drink or rest. The woman ushered her into a room with a few other women in it, all in varying age groups.

They all looked over me, touching my collar and chattering over it. I think I started crying and someone began to stroke my hair, singing in a soothing voice to me. I fell asleep that night, rocked in an unknown woman's arms.

In the morning I was awoken by a shake of my shoulder. An elderly woman, skin dark glossy brown, looked down on me, blinking chocolate brown eyes. She said something in a gentle tone to me and tugged on my arm, wanting me to get up. I did as she asked me and she, along with a male guard, escorted me down to the river outside the city.

She got me to bathe in the river, washing the road's dirt and grime away from my body with gnarled, but tender hands. When she was done with her task she gave me a knee-length tan dress like the one she was wearing. The material itched, but there was nothing I could do about it.

In gestures I made the old woman understand that I was looking for Aly. When she understood, her expressive brown eyes grew sad and she shook her head, muttering something in that unfamiliar tongue. She patted my head, still shaking her head. 'Forget it', she seemed to be saying.

"Kia." I finally said, pointing at myself. She smiled at me.

"Adilah." She responded, tapping her breastbone in reply. She beckoned to me and together we climbed back to the master's house. And thus I began my time as a slave.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	3. Chapter 3

Wolf: Here we go again! Oh, and you folks aren't going to like me for what I'm going to do to Aly.

Horror

I learned many things while I was in the house of the monster, the vampire I came to know was named Dagon, but I was forced to call him master. Adilah took me under her wing, teaching me to do the things I, as a slave, was meant to do. She also taught me how to speak Sumerian, the language at the time. She was kind to me, almost like a mother.

I loved her, loved her for letting me cry into her chest at night, loved her for tending my bruises when I was beaten for doing something wrong, loved her for being so patient with me. Adilah made those days, unable to run free as my people loved to do, bearable for me. It was hell, but there was a sweet, brown-skinned angel to get me through it.

I realized for the first time working as a slave that someone with my looks was considered pretty, even beautiful. The guards watched me with ill intentions in their eyes, but Adilah snapped at them in the first couple weeks, and most left me alone; apparently, Adilah had a reputation, and had earned the respect of the men that worked in Dagon's house.

One though, didn't seem to hold any respect for Adilah, and attempted to jump me one day as I was coming in from chores. Well, I am a wolf, and instinctively I bit him, deep. I remember he had one of the highest pitched squeals I'd ever heard. He beat me nearly black and blue for it, but he stayed away after that, probably figuring I wasn't worth the trouble of having to 'break.'

I kept asking Adilah about Aly, but to no avail. She would just shake her head and give me a pat on the head, her dark eyes darkening further with sorrow. When I persisted she finally told me "It's better you forget that poor soul, there be no help for her."

I tried to find out what she meant, but she would say no more. Nor would any of the other slaves I spoke to. They all pretended they had no idea what I was talking about, or blew me off. It was scaring me that I didn't know what had happened to the sweet little girl who had cried in my arms that first night. Wolves are very maternal creatures, and Aly had brought out that instinct in me, I wanted only to protect her.

I learned many things in the months that I lived as a slave. Adilah told me of her homelands in the jungles of Africa. I was told of far off places and strange peoples. It set a fire in my soul; I wanted to see those things for myself, I wanted to experience them, wanted to know that they really looked like, smelled like and sounded like. I resolved then to see all that the world had to offer.

"You do what you want to do." Adilah laughed when I told her. "You gotta get out of this place first though."

"I'll find a way." I told her eagerly. "And when I do, I'm taking you with me. You can show me your homeland, and I can show you mine."

"That sounds like a good plan to me." Adilah sighed in reply, and then closed her eyes to sleep. We were the lucky ones to be able to sleep in the night. Other slaves had to serve the master when he woke at night. Sometimes he was awake in the day, if he had meetings, but he couldn't go outside, no. He would have burnt to a crisp in minutes. That was why there were no windows in the home.

It was two months before I finally did find out what had happened to little Aly. I was carrying clean clothes to be put in the master's chambers, and wasn't paying attention to where I was going and all the sudden something smaller than I ran into me, knocking me off balance.

"Forgive me." I stuttered, and looked down to see who it was that I had run into. I dropped my burden of clothes in surprise, for staring up at me was the very person that I had been trying to find for the last few months. "Aly?"

She blinked up at me. I saw that she was better dressed than I, in a white gown that reached just below her groin and her hemline just above where her breasts would be, leaving little to the imagination. There was colour on her lips, and powder on her cheeks and around her eyes. Her eyes were dull, but angry, but when she looked at me, she smiled, and I saw pointed fangs in her upper lip. She'd been turned.

"Where is my pet?" I heard the master bellow from within his chambers. The smile died on Aly's lips and she reluctantly turned away and walked into the master's chambers as though she were going to her death.

I ran back to the slave quarters, searching for Adilah. I found her sitting on one of the sleeping mats, meditating gently. I went right up to her, and in my distress I shook her shoulders a little more roughly than I meant to.

"Child! What is wrong with you?" Adilah asked.

"I saw Aly." I told her. She froze and then her eyes grew sad and dark. "What has happened to her?"

"Child, I wanted to protect you from this, but I see that that's not going to happen." Adilah sighed. "Child, you know that many of the richer men of this place take concubines for themselves, right?"

"Yes." I didn't like where this conversation was going.

"The master, he likes a different type of concubine. He likes... very young girls." Adilah admitted, staring at me with sorrowful eyes. "I'm afraid your little Aly has become his concubine."

"He turned her too." I said, unable to keep the horror out of my voice.

"Yes, he has to, he's very rough with them, or so I'm told. If he did not turn them, he would only have each one for a night and then he'd have to find another." I was trembling all over by this point and I had bared my teeth in an unconscious snarl.

"Sick. It's sick, how could he do that?" I demanded, voice rising in desperation. Adilah cuffed me gently.

"Hush now, child. You don't want anybody hearing you speaking bad about the master." She said, eyes flicking around nervously. "Come, we'll draw water for the master's bath together. The walk will do you good."

I did as I was bid, and carrying the heavy buckets of water did numb my mind somewhat. But, I still felt cold and hot by varying degrees. I was angry, I wanted to hurt the master, the monster. I did not like vampires as a principle, my people never did because they tended to prey on the weak for their blood, but I was willing to make an exception for dear little Aly.

"How can you stand it, knowing he does that?" I asked Adilah as we poured the last buckets of water into the master's bath.

"Don't have much choice, do I?" Adilah sighed. "It's either work or die, and I'm not quite ready for the afterlife. I don't like it." She admitted, her voice dropping into a growl. "I think that he is a pig, and a horrible, disgusting perverted-" Her voice was choked off by a meaty hand on her throat. I stared in horror; the master had come up while she was talking, without us hearing, and had her by the throat.

"Speaking ill of your master?" His voice was oozing, slimy, and my skin crawled to hear it. The hand around Adilah's throat tightened and she let out a choked, pained sound. Dagon did not stop, his hand tightening further and further as he watched Adilah's face slowly turn purple with a sadistic smirk on his face. Finally, I heard a sickening crunch and Adilah went slack in his grip, her neck broken.

He tossed her body away like it was trash and turned to look at me. "And you, little wolf bitch, do you have a problem with me?" My body burned with an unfamiliar fire, but I quaked with fear.

"No, master." I whispered, casting my eyes downward. He chuckled sinisterly.

"Too bad you're so old, you'd make a good sex slave for me. Ahh, well, now, back to work." I ran out of that room as fast as my legs could carry me and headed back to the slave quarters. I flung myself down on a mat and cried.

First Aly, now Adilah; he had taken the light from my life and I felt lost, and empty. Empty except for that burning heat that had settled in my gut and was coiling out into the rest of my body as I thought about what the monster had done. Slowly I realized what I was feeling...

Rage.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	4. Chapter 4

Wolf: Here we go, chapter four, gearing up now!

Killer

Rage throbbed in my entire being, allowing me to do through my days without collapsing in grief. It burned, and it needed to be quenched, and there was only one way to do so. I lived to kill Dagon from the moment that he murdered Adilah, and I threw myself into plans of murder and escape, because I was not going to stay when the deed was done, and I also wasn't leaving Aly behind.

So I plotted, day in and day out. I kept my eyes open for stray weapons, rope and anything else I might need, including food and water skins. I was patient, it would take time for my plan to be able to be implemented, but I am a hunter, we know how to stalk our prey.

I wandered the halls at night, pretending to be on some sort of errand, but really memorizing the guards' positions and the patches of shadow where no one can see into. I don't have to worry about moonlight finding me, because there are no more windows. When my third month as a slave drew to a close, I was finally ready to take down my prey.

The guards began to get sleepy as the stars turned, so I waited not only until my fellow slaves were all asleep, but also until I knew the guards would be drowsy and foolish. I then carefully removed the stone from the floor under which I had hidden my bag of essentials. I used the knife to cut through the collar around my neck, thus allowing me to change again.

I allowed my ears to grow out, in order to hear, and my tail as well, because I missed the feel of it, and it would offer me extra balance. I slunk out of the room, soundless and sure-footed, as my kind was meant to be. The guards outside the door didn't even notice as I slipped past them into the shadows by the wall.

When I came to the hall by Dagon's room, I strain my ears to hear if he is in there. My big, wonderfully keen ears picked up the sound of grunts and keening cries of pain. I bared my teeth in a snarl, I knew that cry, knew it was Aly in there. Oh, to kill him while he tormented her would be sweet indeed, but this next part was tricky. I had to lure the guards away from the door.

I carefully pulled a piece of rope out of my pack and tied my knife around my neck so that it was hidden under my dress. I then picked a rock out of my pack and threw it at the wall down the hallway, a ways from Dagon's chambers. The one guard went to go investigate. As soon as he was out of my sight I slipped out of the shadows and sashayed up to the remaining guard.

"Aren't you just a big, strong, handsome specimen?" I purred, cupping the guard's chin coyly. Believe me, I was gagging inside as he slid an arm around my waist, pulling me close. I reached under my top, fluttering my eyelids at him before bringing the knife out and slitting his throat, one hand over his mouth.

I stepped over his prone body and opened the door to the chamber, shutting it silently behind me. Dagon had not noticed me yet, and his ass was stuck up in the air in front of me. I wanted him to see me when he died though, and so I snarled.

He turned to face me, eyes blinking stupidly at the sight of me with my blood-stained knife and ears and tail. "How did you...? How dare you!" He cried, getting a hold of himself. "I am your master, get out this instant or I'll have you flayed within an inch of your life!"

"I am wild, I know no master, and I have come for your blood." I snarled in reply, and leapt at him. It was only surprise from my actions that allowed me to overpower him and stab into his heart. "For Adilah, for Aly, and for everyone else that you have hurt." I whispered as the light left his eyes and his body grew pale as death.

I turned my attention to Aly, who was staring up at me in shock and awe. I extended my hand to her wordlessly, and she took it. "Wait, we will need more weapons, the guards may put up a fight." Aly nodded her head at my words and went to a nook on the wall. From there she carried out a long box that was covered in dust. The seal on it had not even been cracked.

I opened it and there lay a great, mighty claymore. I gripped the hilt in one hand, and lifted it out. It was heavy, but felt right in my hand, as though it were an extension. I heard Aly rummaging and saw that she had found a pair of long daggers and was clutching a thin stone block with writing on it to her chest.

"Is that important?" I asked. She nodded and I placed it in my pack. Adilah had taught me to read their writing, though she was not supposed to. "Be ready to fight for your life." I whispered, stalking over to the door. She hissed in reply and I yanked open the door. I don't remember much of what happened next, my body took control and we fought our way through the guards that dared oppose us.

Eventually we ran through the dark streets and out of the city, free beings once again. We raced along the river, I howling my delight to the sky while she growled and yelped with me, dancing in the moonlight. We stop only when the city is but a speck on the horizon and I have found a small cave for us to sleep, for Aly would burn if the light from the sun touched her.

When we settled down in the cave Aly looked at me, and smiled. Her eyes were still dull, and horror-stricken, but in that smile I saw a gleam of trust and hope that I would protect her. I wrapped her in my arms, crooning a lullaby from my homeland and stroked her hair, lulling my little vampire to sleep.

I woke earlier than she late the next day, and out of curiosity took the tablet she was insistent that we were to take. As I skim over it, I realize that it is a series of spells, carefully written down and explained in the stone. Aly must have seen Dagon using it and thought that it would be useful to us. I was drawn to one spell in particular, a binding spell, that would tie the two participants together for all their lives, until one died.

I set about to serious thinking in that little cave by the river. Aly would live for many, many years, forever if she did not meet a weapon to her heart, or cut off her head. I doubted she would trust her own kind, the vampires, after what they had done to her. That left only me to protect her. I brushed the thought out of my mind, I would not like to live forever, would I? Aly would stay with me until she knew how to take care of herself and then she could go her own way if she chose.

The sun went down and Aly awoke, yawning widely, showing off the pointed fangs that marked her as one of the undead. I found that her teeth did not scare me as they did on the other vampires, these instead looked almost cute.

"You ready to get on the road?" I asked her. She nodded her head, eyes still so full of trust. I tried to speak with her as we walked, but found that she would only communicate with gestures and growls. There was nothing physically wrong with her, and I could only conclude that her abuse at the hands of that monster had spawned this communication barrier.

It was late in the night that she began to rub at her stomach. It took me a little while to realize that she was hungry, she needed to feed. There was nothing, no one around, but me. I thought perhaps I could make her wait, but she looked so miserable that I relented and allowed her to drink from me, as I would for many years to come.

Our days and nights settled into a pattern, walking by night, and sleeping by day. I would steal food from the sleeping villages we'd pass by in the middle of the night, and Aly would drink from the livestock kept when she could. Some days I would walk among the people, to find out what I could about the world from the people that walked about. One thing I found out was that vampires were everywhere, and they were a problem.

Neither Aly nor I had any love of vampires, and the thought that there were more of them, hurting people out in the world made us both angry. There was a lot of rage still then, and we wanted to do something about it.

But there was something else. I had grown endlessly fond of Aly, and I could not fathom leaving her alone in the world. She would not be able to take care of herself, unable to accept help from her own kind, and not willing to speak, she needed someone to help her. I was that person, and so I made the choice.

The ceremony to bind us so that I would share her lifespan was simple. We merely had to share blood, and we would be bound together until death. I had kept my ears and tail out since our escape, except when wandering around people, it seemed right after months of being unable to change to be able to choose what I looked like. The problem came that when Aly and I bonded, I was stuck in that form, unable to change to full wolf, or full human.

It was a small price to pay for the complete and total trust of Aly. She and I were like sisters now, blood-bonded and comrades in anger against the creature that had wronged us. After that night we decided our paths; vengeful vampire killers.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	5. Chapter 5

Wolf: Moving on, hope you're all enjoying it!

Change of Pace

We were hunters of vampires for nearly a thousand years. We watched as new civilizations began to take shape, and old ones were torn down. We gained notoriety among the creatures we preyed upon. The Shadow Slayers, we came to be called, because we attacked without sound, and melted away as soon as we came.

We learned how to be so quiet that even with a vampire's keen hearing we were not detected until it was too late. We learned how to wield our weapons efficiently from lessons we took masquerading as boys in the armies of whatever land we crossed. Sometimes we came across another supernatural that would share some piece of advice or show us some useful trick.

We learned at least the basics of many different tongues. We never stayed long in any place, we could not, we did not age, and the vampires hunted us as well. To stay in one place was to invite laziness, and subsequently death. It was a bit of a lonely existence, but we had each other, and that was enough.

My magic power grew in that millennium, but I did not use my magic much in those days. The only thing I used it for was to create protections around us while we slept, so that enemies could not kill us while we were slumbering. Sometimes I would make charms, for protection against pregnancy or illness, and sell them to supernaturals on the road, just so that we had a little bit of money if we landed in a tight spot.

We were much more than a team, Aly and I. We were like sisters. She was quiet, and did not show much outward affection after the first few years, but she loved to be petted and would sit in my lap and cuddle with me on many occasions. I understood her mannerisms, and she understood mine, so much so that it became so that she knew exactly what I wanted without me even having to say a word.

She took blood from animals, or travellers that I put to sleep and brought to her. She never killed, only drinking enough to stay alive. If we were stuck, I allowed her to drink from me.

We didn't think that anything would change, that we would keep killing vampires until the end of time. Even after all we had killed there would still be more, and someone had to get rid of them. So, we thought that this was the rest of our lives, but life is constantly changing, and so would ours.

It started by a cave, in the fertile lands by the Mediterranean sea, in the budding kingdom that would become Egypt. We had killed the night before, and so had found the cave to sleep in. I placed the protection runes at the entrance as the light of the sun began to make its appearance and Aly and I fell to sleep like any other day.

When the night came we headed for the entrance to the cave, but then Aly growled softly. It was her growl for when a vampire was near. I proceeded with more caution, sliding until I could see out the entrance, but no one outside could see me. The protection rune was still in place, meaning that the vampire could not harm either of us until we stepped completely outside the cave.

The vampire was sitting on a stone in the middle of the clearing. It was a female, older, like a grandmother, but with none of the fragile looks, sagging skin and deformities of age, so still fairly young. Her hair was snow-white with age, her skin was the same colour as mine, and her slanted eyes were bright emerald green.

I drew my sword and stepped into the moonlight, though not out of the protection of the rune. "You're a bold bloodsucker, to come out here, no weapon, no backup." Aly nodded at me, there were no others but this one.

"You are younger than what I have been expecting." The vampire said in a strong, calm voice.

"What were you expecting?" I demanded, somewhat confused by this vampire's calm.

"From the stories told of the Shadow Slayers, I was half expecting something ten feet tall, razor sharp claws and teeth, horns, and eyes as red as the blood moon." The vampire replied with a faint smile. "Though, that sort of thing can happen when a legend has gone on for a thousand years, things get twisted, exaggerated and I suppose it's good for you that they're not expecting a young woman with a wolf's tail and ears to be their foe."

"What do you want here, bloodsucker?" I demanded, tired of her rambling.

"My name is Isilia." The vampire replied. "I don't particularly enjoy being called bloodsucker. And I am here to speak with you of matters of great importance."

"So, talk." I snapped.

"You are aware of the growing threat to the entire supernatural community by humans, are you not?" I nodded my head. More and more supernaturals were being targeted and killed, even the peaceful ones. "We do not want a war, or any sort of fighting, it would end in tragedy for both our sides, and there are far more humans than there are supernaturals, and unlike most supernaturals, they are a naturally violent species."

"What does this have to do with us?" I asked, eyes narrowing.

"Our enemies are great as is, we cannot afford to have enemies among the supernaturals." Isilia replied.

"As long as vampires kill and torture and cause destruction, we will be their enemies." I told her. To my surprise, she smiled.

"Then, we may be able to reach an agreement." She said. "Over the last couple of years the supernatural community has been unifying, creating a council that will act as a governing body over all the supernaturals in the world. I hold the seat as ambassador of vampires. Laws are being put into place over what is acceptable behaviour, and what is not. Those vampires that engage in unlawful behaviour will be taken care of by the council. Do you understand? Times are changing, we can no longer fight amongst ourselves if we want to survive."

"So, what part would you have us play in this new order?" I asked her, intrigued by the notion of a unified people.

"The council has thought that because of your experience in the world that you could hold a place of honour, as head of the council." Isilia explained. I immediately began to shake my head, not liking that notion.

"I've no mind for administrative duties, nor do I have the passion. I am a simple woman, and prefer to walk among the people, not look down on them." I replied. "And Aly wants nothing to do with her kind, and I will not make her uncomfortable by having to convene with vampires all the time. However, if what you say rings true, then we will give up our occupation as vampire slayers."

"And what will you do instead?" Isilia asked. Aly had inched forward by this time and was hiding behind me, little face peeking out at Isilia. "Hello, little one." Aly snarled at her.

"Forgive her, she has no love of her kind after being so abused by them." I told Isilia. "As for us..." I trailed off, staring into space. The protection rune caught my eye, it was very good, though I'd been thinking of improving it.

"The supernatural community will be attempting to hide from humans now, won't they?" I mused.

"More so than ever, though in some areas it's becoming hard." Isilia agreed. I hummed softly to myself, still staring at the rune, allowing the idea building to come to me in its own time.

"I am good with magics, protections and medicines the best. I suppose Aly and I could become peddlers, bringing charms and runes to those that need them." I murmured.

"An inspired idea." Isilia praised. "They will need help and the council cannot be everywhere." She stood. "I must go, but I hope that we will meet again, under friendlier circumstances."

"I hope so too." I replied politely. Isilia bowed to the both of us, and then walked away. Aly growled questioningly. "I think she's right, times are changing."


	6. Chapter 6

Wolf: Moving along nicely, or so I hope.

"So, my dear," I said to Aly. "Time to put up our swords and enter a more peaceful line of work." Aly growled softly and made as though to throw her daggers away. "Ah, no, we will still need weapons I should think."

I sat down on a stone and contemplated the night sky. There was no sense in rushing off if we did not know where we were going next. Aly cuddled up next to me, yawning widely, her fangs glinting in the moonlight. I thought of many things sitting on that rock.

We would still not be able to stay in one place for too long, partly because of our uniqueness, and partly because we would need to bring necessities to more than one part of the world, at least until others began to help. I could send Aly ahead of me, to find those people that were hidden away, so that we would not accidently pass them by.

I would need to start making potions and charms and other such items in bulk, and would need some way to transport them. A cart perhaps, pulled by mine and Aly's own strength or by the strength of some beast of burden. We would still need our weapons, indeed the roads at night were dangerous; especially to us that looked like young women.

I looked down at Aly, mulling over her deadly sensitivity to sunlight. There had to be some way to counteract that, or at least protect her from the sun's unforgiving rays. It would make our task a little simpler. I would have to work on that, but now I have time to do so. I could work on many spells now that our nights were not taken up by hunting.

Life could continue at a slower pace now, a little more peaceful, a little less stressed. We'd been hunting and running for so long, it was hard to remember what it was like to relax, to dance, to sing, to give praise. It had been so long since my happy little life in the north, hunting deer, changing into a wolf to revel in the feeling of earth beneath paws, howling at the moon. That life was no longer our life to live, even if we wanted it.

With a start I realized I did not want the life of ignorant bliss that I once knew back. I loved the things that I learned now, the places I saw, and the people I met. So what if Aly and I were doomed to be wanderers forever more, the road was our home, the changing scenery our love, the sounds of voices new and foreign our lullaby, and now we could take the time to enjoy them without worry of death or thoughts of vengeance.

"You and I, travelling the world forever more, helping other people, seeing strange and wondrous sights, watching the world grow, it doesn't seem like a bad life, does it?" I whispered to Aly, rubbing the top of her head softly. She uttered a soft purring sound in response, apparently pleased with the notion. "We will not forget the wrongs done to us, but we will remember that none of the vampires in the world are the ones that stole from us our innocence, yes?"

Aly looked up at me with her dark, dark eyes, and nodded solemnly. I knew though, she would never be comfortable with her own kind, as much as she might tolerate their presence. She would not kill, out of love for me, but she would defend if she felt she must. She looked so young still, we both did, and yet we had both seen generations of lives pass.

"A pair of lonely souls, forever bound to life's lonely roads." I mused quietly, and chuckled to myself. "Not completely lonely, not with such a wonderful and loyal companion by my side." I praised my dear little Aly. She smiled again for me, the smile of a child, so out of place with the ancient soul shining in her eyes, yet never growing old.

"Many things to do, many things." I sighed. "We must spend our nights searching up metals for charms, plants and herbs for potions, and a cart to carry all of them. We must then make the potions and the charms, and make sure the cart is guarded from prying eyes. Busy, busy, busy. But a new kind of busy from what we are used to for sure."

My ears pricked forward as a new presence was felt. Aly growled softly in confusion and hostility, but I shushed her gently. The presence was not a vampire, not any form of mortal being either. It was a stern, but kind and loving presence, and I immediately thought about Adilah.

The woman that stepped forward out of shadow was ebony-skinned, her eyes as dark as Aly's and yet they seemed filled with light. She wore only a simple white ankle-length sarong, and glowed from within. Her face was that of a middle-aged woman, but unlined and unblemished.

"Mother Goddess." I breathed, and dropped to the ground in a deep bow as fitting one greeting a god. The gods make no preferences on what name they answer to, or do they choose whom they attend based on religion or faith. Almost all religions have a mother of the earth figure, and She is all of these, Isis, Ishtar, Demeter, Gaia, all are Her names, and she will answer the call of any of her children.

"**Arise, you of the quick paws, and quick blade." **The goddess told me. **"And you, silent shadow, arise as well."**

"What do you wish of us, Mother?" I asked as I rose to my feet.

"**I have been watching you since you gave up a mortal life for love of the child. I have often thought your talents were better used in service of Life, not Death. Now that you have chosen Life, I wish only to welcome you as my child and servant." **

"Those that serve Life and look after your children are your servants." I stated respectfully.

"**Indeed, but you two, with your long lives, could prove to be very excellent servants, if you remain in this service to life. If you do, you will be able to reap your reward in my court when your earthy journey is done."**

"You are kind, Lady Goddess." I said, bowing my head.

"**You have great love in your heart, buried as it's been for years of revenge. You can serve me well, for my children confined to the shadows and so little help to them. I must thank you for taking this endeavour, to take care of them as I cannot."**

"I am not the only one to be taking care of them." I protested, thinking of Isilia.

"**Perhaps, but your help will be on the personal level, and therefore a labour of love, and that is what my children need." **The goddess began to fade away in front of our eyes.** "Take good care of my children, do not let them fall."**

"We promise we will do everything in our power to help those in need, be they vampire, dragon, shapeshifter, even human, we will give them the aid they seek."

"**And that is all I could ask for." **The goddess whispered, and then disappeared, leaving the night as it was before, and we with a great promise to keep.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	7. Chapter 7

Wolf: And we will be seeing a few familiar faces in this chapter, so I must use the disclaimer saying I own nothing but my OCs, and the plotline. Other than that, enjoy!

Our lives settled into a new pattern soon after our meeting with the goddess. We still wandered, but we wandered with our cart full of potions, charms and other odds and ends, wandering throughout the world as we pleased.

The council, termed the Council of Elders, grew in size and authority, their rule stretching even over the vast oceans to the lands unexplored by Eurasian man. They worked out a network of communications, using dragonlings to bring news and bear messages to all corners of the globe.

Those dragonlings made my business a little easier as well. They brought me messages of who was running low on what, where I should avoid due to human conflicts, where there would be a safe house waiting for me in the ever-growing cities. I would set up shop for a couple days in the city, letting the supernaturals living there come to me, instead of me to them.

I worked on my charms in those years, and perfected an illusion spell that would give any supernatural the appearance of a human. I also created the spell that made my goods invisible to the human eyes, the one that was used on my shop. I also managed to perfect the spell that would allow Aly to walk in the day, freeing us from the shackles of light and ending our nocturnal life style. It was a life-saver to vampires everywhere.

Now we were having the time to gaze around ourselves, to take the time to relax and sight-see as we wandered the world. Even places we'd been before would have changed from the last time we'd been there, and it was exciting to watch civilizations grow and stretch out. It was equally disheartening to see them fall as well, though we were only outsiders looking in.

As generations passed, new tales began to crop up about Aly and I. There was some that called us benevolent spirits that walked the earth bringing help to those in need. Some told tales that we were cursed by fate to wander the earth forever more for some reason or another. But, as millennia passed, the tales faded away until we simply became known as the Ageless Helpers. It was enough title for our simple lives.

I remember watching as the Great Pyramid was being built, feeling admiration for the ingenuity of the humans that created it. Even modern man has failed to recreate the pyramids with what tools they had when it was first made. Egypt was a wonderful place to me, the people were treated fairly, and they were even the first to have equal rights for women.

It was no surprise then that Aly and I returned to the land of pharaohs many times over the years. It was a center of commerce, and many supernaturals were drawn to the area. We had a small place in the capital set up where we could rest for a couple days and sell our wares in relative comfort. It was usually there that a human would stumble upon us, their magic or their need letting them past my enchantments.

Most of the humans that came in were young, because the youth have a better imagination and are more willing to believe in magic. It was there, around 1300 BCE that I first had a request from a homosexual couple to give them a child. It took me some time, but I created the potion that allowed a same sex couple to bear a child of their own, be they male or female. I became known as a master of potions because of my proficiency, but it was only my long life that gave me such wisdom.

Around 1000 BCE, I had the fortune to meet a unique young pharaoh when I arrived in Egypt. Aly and I were heading into the city, our cart in tow, when we were halted by a pair of guards, wanting to know what was inside. Of course, the protection spell would show them only innocent knick-knacks and toys, hiding our true purpose.

In the process of the inspection, the headband that hid my lupine ears was knocked askew and one large, white ear poked out. I could not use illusion spells on myself, because of the blood bond upon me, spells did not take, and I was to rely on other means to hide my uniqueness, as I could not change my form, being frozen in time.

The guards saw the ear before I had chance to hide it away again and Aly and I were taken into custody. They believed us to be some form of demon, no doubt, and I suspected it was the dungeon, or an execution for us. But, I could sense no malevolent event looming over our heads, so I was unconcerned.

To my surprise, we were taken straight away to the palace and led into the court of the pharaoh himself. Six priests, three on either side, flanked the high throne that the king sat upon. He was young, and had a mane like a lion, spiked up in an amazing display. He had three colours in his hair, his choppy bangs were golden, the body of his spikes was midnight black, and tips the deepest crimson. His calm, serious eyes were the same colour, absolutely fascinating.

We were brought to the foot of the throne, surrounded by the priests and forced to kneel. Even on my knees I remained locked with his eyes, trying to gauge the soul behind them. He returned my regard with curiosity. My gaze fell to the inverted golden pyramid hanging around his neck and my ears twitched, that was some powerful magic.

"MY pharaoh, we found these two creatures in the market." One of the guards stated. "We think they may be demons of some kind."

The pharaoh tilted his head, looking at the two of us speculatively. "They look like no demons we have ever seen." He mused in a deep, strong voice. "Are you a demon, girl?" He asked me. I smiled at him, showing off pointed canines.

"I was not the last time I checked, but it has been awhile." I replied playfully.

"Insolence!" The other guard cried, and I sensed him raising his spear to deal me a blow. Quick as a flash I spun and caught the butt of the spear, standing up and twisting the weapon so that the guard was knocked to the ground. The other guard looked as though he were about to help, but Aly hissed at him, making him back off.

I crouched by the fallen guard, leaning on his spear. "Never underestimate anyone, and never ever let your guard down." I told him gently. I handed him his spear and helped him to his feet. I turned back to the pharaoh and bowed my head to him, folding my ears back respectfully. I sensed that this man would be sympathetic to us. "My pharaoh, I am Kia Quickpaw, and this is my assistant, Aly. We are no demons, merely travellers."

"Unique travellers for certain." The pharaoh replied.

"I am a shapeshifter, though my form is fixed as you see here, and Aly is a vampire. We mean no harm in this city, we are merely bringing necessary goods to those supernatural creatures that make this city their home."

"I was not aware such creatures lived in the city." The pharaoh stated.

"We prefer not to call attention to ourselves." I explained. I swept my gaze over the priests standing there and saw that each of them bore a golden item with the same eye engraved into each, and the same feel of magic in them. "If I may be so bold, may I see one of those golden items you carry?"

"You seek to use their powers." A tall man with cold blue eyes accused.

"Human magic is not something that my kind can use, and neither can humans use supernatural magic, so there is nothing to fear. I merely wish to get a better sense of the magic within them."

"Seth, it is alright, she may see one of the Items." Reluctantly, Seto handed his item to me, a slim rod with a bulbous top and two wing-like protrusions coming out from it. I ran my fingers over it, feeling the throb of power within. So much power in one place...

"Dangerous things." I mused, handing the Rod back.

"They are used to keep our nation in peace." The pharaoh protested.

"That kind of power in the wrong hands would be disastrous." I replied. "But, it is not my place to tell you how to run your nation." I amended. "We must be on our way."

"Surely you would stay, just a little while longer, as a guest." The pharaoh said.

"That is a kind offer, but we have work that must be done, and then we must move on again." I responded. Aly and I bowed once more and then took our leave. The air buzzed unpleasantly to my senses, like the feeling before a storm breaks, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. Something was going to happen soon.

"I suggest we finish our business quick." I told Aly. "A storm is coming, and I do not think we want to be caught in the middle."

That storm would prove to be the battle of the gods for the protection of the world, but I would not know that for many years. I'm sure my friends, you know what the name of the young pharaoh I encountered was, if indeed my end has come when I have predicted. It was Atem.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	8. Chapter 8

Wolf: More familiar faces coming your way, so once again I own nothing but my OCs and the plot!

Let us flash forward another couple thousand years, to about 1000 AD. Aly and I had expanded out into far Asia by this point, as civilization took off in those areas and they became more easily accessible. By this point other supernaturals were taking up my mantle as helper, keeper of potions and charms; all of us wandering nomads, sometimes we would meet each other on our journeys, trading those items that we needed.

All regions had their own cultures, their own unique flavours, and so we enjoyed moving from place to place, experiencing each place as tourists and yet part of the landscape. Asia offered us as much unique and wonderful discoveries as any other location had. You can imagine, with as much travelling as we did, we were fluent in many tongues, Aly in understanding only of course.

We were in China when a dragonling came to us bearing a plea to go to Japan, to help one of the dragon noble families that made their home there. Now, dragons in Asia had taken a different evolutionary path than their Western cousins. They were beings of water, not fire, and unlike their fire-breathing cousins, were viewed by humans as benevolent creatures.

Now the princess-stealing, treasure hoarding dragon myth of course was not true, but the result of some drunken decisions, and teenage pranks for the most part. Unfortunately, these were the only dragons that Europeans ever heard about, and so the poor creatures' reputation was cemented. It was in those days that the smaller dragons, more able to hide, were able to survive and where the seven foot tall denizens of modern day originated.

Asian dragons did not have wings, and yet they were able to fly. Their bodies were long and sinuous, putting one in mind of a snake, though the dragons had four paws, allowing them to stand, not slither. Their faces were more canine-like, covered in scales with a pair of long, thick whiskers like a moustache. Like their Western cousins they had a shaggy mane upon their necks and were covered in scales that could come in any colour.

We did go to Japan, to the main island of Honshu, in order to assist the dragons. The dragon lady, for it was the wife of the lord that was ill, was fine after one of my potion remedies. The lord was so grateful that he gifted to us an ox to pull the cart that we had been pulling under our own power since the horse that we had been using had died.

We affectionately named the silly beast Futotta, because if he had his way he would spend his days eating without pause. He particularly enjoyed almonds, which Aly would feed him, giggling as his tongue tickled her, when we stopped to rest. He was a gift to be sure, a rest for our weary limbs from months of pulling that heavy cart.

We decided to explore Japan for a little while. With others performing the same services as us in the world, there was less need for us to move on from one place to another as quickly as we had in the past. It was not the brightest time of Japan's history to be sure; disease, war and demons were rampant, more than once we had to use our weapons to destroy a pack of demons, or a gang of raiders that crossed our paths.

We were plodding along in the night, wishing to bed down in a village instead of on the unpredictable roads. A little lamp on the front of the cart swung back and forth with Futotta's steady, plodding movements, lighting the path for several metres. I was singing an old ballad in ancient Egyptian, to lighten the mood.

"Who is that voice?" A trembling, male voice called. "Are you a demon?" I peered in the darkness and saw the lights of what looked like another cart, pulled by a bull like mine, more ornate and flanked by two young men, acolytes, I thought based on their robes.

"If we were demons, do you believe that I would reveal it to the world?" I called back. They stopped in front of me, frowning in confusion.

"A girl?" Aly poked her head out of the interior of the cart. "Two girl? Young women such as yourselves should not be out this late at night! Perhaps you are demons after all."

"Peace. They are no demons." The voice came from the occupant of the cart, who had emerged. A tall man, dressed in the traditional garb of an Onmyoji, long-haired and dark-eyed. The feeling of power I felt rolling off him was immense. I'd heard tales of this man and I was overjoyed to meet him.

"Do I have the honour of addressing Hao Asakura, the famed Onmyoji?" I asked respectfully.

"You do. And whom do I have the honour of speaking to?" He asked me.

"I am Kia Quickpaw, my lord. My small companion is Aly." I replied, bowing my head at him. "Is there a village in the direction that you've come?"

"Not for many miles." He answered. I looked to Aly, who yawned widely in response.

"You're right, my dear. It is late, we are weary, let us bring the cart off the path and rest here." I said absentmindedly, used to speaking aloud to her.

"But, you will be unprotected out here in the open!" One of the acolytes yelped.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that." Hao stated, gracefully moving towards our cart. "This cart has its own protections." I blinked lazily at him and smiled.

"Of course I did not expect the illusions to work on someone as gifted as yourself." I said to him. "I did wonder when you would ask about it however." I reached one hand up and pulled my bandanna off, shaking my head slightly to ease the stiffness in my ears. "We will be well-protected, there is no need to worry about our safety."

I hopped off the cart, bowing once more to him, and pulled on Futotta's halter. "Come on you feckless beast, off the road with you." Futotta lowed and plodded in my direction. I set the cart a few metres from the road. There were no trees in the area, so I rummaged in the cart for my sword. As I was doing so, I heard plodding footsteps behind me. I turned my head and saw that Hao was directed his own cart over to where we were.

"It is not often that I get to encounter a supernatural, especially one so out in the open." He said to me. "We will camp here for the night as well."

I nodded my head at him and took my sword from its hiding place. It was still the sword that I'd stolen from Dagon. I found out that it was forged of starsteel, metal taken from a meteorite that had crashed to earth, and was near unbreakable. I began to draw the symbols of a protection spell with its blade in the dirt.

"We have protections of our own, no one will harm you when you are with us." Hao stated.

"Forgive me my lord, when you have wandered as long as we have, you prefer to trust in your own protections." I murmured, completing the circle and re-sheathing my weapon. Hao stood to look at the symbols running around the inside edge of the circle that encompassed his cart and mine.

"What language is this?" He asked.

"It is commonly known as dragonspeech, as it was the dragons who created it, but it is used for our spells and so most supernaturals know some of it at least." I answered. "Don't feed him too many almost, Aly. He's fat enough." Aly looked up from giving Futotta more almonds and nodded slowly. I rummaged in the cart again, bringing out some firewood and a flint.

Hao brought out a small striped cat from the cart, sitting down on the ground with the creature in his lap. Aly, always a sucker for things small and cute, abandoned Futotta and trotted over to get a better look at the cat.

"His name is Matamune." Hao informed her. Aly cocked her head and let out her gruff, growl-purr. Hao raised an eyebrow at her.

"She does not speak, she has not for a long time." I told him as I got the fire going and sat down. "I suppose you wish to know what we are."

"I suppose you're a shapeshifter of some kind." Hao said. "Aly, I am not so sure."

"She is a vampire." I replied. The acolytes blanched and looked nervous. I chuckled slightly. "She has eaten, and she will not drink from companions in good will unless given permission."

"Where do you come from, Kia?" Hao asked me, stroking Matamune's fur.

"I don't really come from anywhere anymore." I replied. "We are wanderers, never staying in the same place for too long."

"That seems unusual from what I know about most species of supernaturals." Hao commented.

"It is not." I agreed. "We are unique, and we enjoy seeing new places, meeting new people." I met his eyes, sensing the power there.

"You knew who I was immediately, and yet you are not native to this region." There was a question in his words and I decided to answer with the truth.

"I am gifted with the ability to sense energies, and changes in energies. Not quite clairvoyant, but enough to know that something is coming. What that something might be is what I cannot gouge."

"Can you do the same with people, not just their powers, but sense the nature of the soul within?" He asked curiously.

"That is harder, and requires great concentration." It was something I discovered by accident, attempting to find the wound of a centaur and concentrating too hard on him I found the aura of his soul. I did not do it often because it required physical contact and was tiring.

"Would you be willing to give a demonstration?" Hao queried, clearly interested. "I want to see if the person having their soul scanned feels it."

"Your acolytes?"

"No, me." He said, startling me. I held his eyes with mine. He could not look away, just as anyone who looked into my eyes couldn't, and I saw only simple curiosity.

"If you are certain, but I will have to touch you in order to do so." I explained. He nodded his head and I moved around the fire to kneel in front of him. I put my hands on his cheeks and stared deep into his eyes. It was the easiest way to find the soul, through the eyes. After a few minutes I let out a sigh and released him, suddenly weary.

"Hm, I felt nothing." He commented as I trudged back to my cart. "What did you see?" I looked at him, debating how much to say, and how to say it.

"You bear a great weight upon your heart, but your soul is good. If you continue to bear the weight well, or find how to shed it, you will be well." I finally told him. I did not say anything about the darkness I saw in his future. It would do nothing to help him, there was no stopping what I felt, not ever.

"Thank you, Kia Quickpaw." He said to me. "Do you require payment of some kind?" I shook my head, closing my eyes.

"I don't take payment for my services, I am only here to help." I informed him. I drifted off into a weary sleep after that. When I awoke the next morning Hao had already gone and the sun was high in the sky. Aly blinked at me, holding the reins. I sighed and got up onto the cart, urging Futotta back onto the road. I pondered Hao once more, feeling the threads of fate binding our lives in that moment.

"We'll be meeting again, Hao Asakura."

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Wolf: Review plz!


	9. Chapter 9

Wolf: Ok, some more familiar characters on the horizon, so I own nothing but my OCs and the plot.

Let us flash forward five hundred years from meeting Hao Asakura for the first time. Aly and I had spent the better part of the last century wandering around Europe, watching as its cities grew and countries flourished and floundered by turns. We'd lived so long that we'd seen about everything new there is to see and surprises did not come to us anymore.

Isilia had approached us some months before to go to the 'New World' and look in on the state of the supernatural population living there. Our job was to interview as many supernaturals as possible, find out what their concerns with the highly religious, superstitious largely Christian population of Europe were and help with establishing safe means of communication, shelter and commerce among them, before settlement, which was inevitable given the crowded conditions of the Old World, began in earnest.

Of course we agreed, tiring of the dirty streets and disease infested cities of Europe, and wishing for open spaces again. We set out to America, or what would be America, anyways. It was like turning the clock back centuries when we got there. So many wild spaces still yet untamed, the only real 'civilization' what the Europeans had built, and even those were very few and tiny in comparison to their homeland counterparts.

We dressed simply, and in our own manner in those days. I wore a pair of plain trousers that went down to mid-calf and a loose top cinched at the waist with a belt. I wore no shoes, my soles were tough and leathery. Aly, by contrast, preferred a little dress like the native girls wore, along with a pair of moccasins she took a liking to because their black beads reminded her of her eyes.

As long as we weren't near any settlements, I was free to allow my ears and tail to show. The Natives were respectful of our kinds, living in harmony with those that they referred to as spirits of nature. I spent many a night watching them dance in front of a bonfire while Aly and I ate as guests in their company.

Human beings were such vibrant, beautiful creatures, and millennia of watching their wars, their sufferings and their ignorance had not swayed my opinion on this. For every cruelty I saw ten kindnesses. Others were not so optimistic, and spoke of their ill treatment of our kinds, but I knew that it was simple fear and ignorance, not wilful malice that fuelled this, so we pitied them rather than hated.

From the frigid tundra of the north to the scorching deserts of the south and everything in between, we continued our wanderings, meeting new people, sharing in new cultures, learning new tongues. It was as it always was, and we loved it that way. The New World was a variety of sights, sounds, smells and tastes that we eagerly partook in.

We were navigating the Grand Canyon one day when we came upon someone whom we knew. I had been singing a Navajo river song as we danced along the edge of the canyon, looking down at the mighty Colorado River that roared below us, when Aly suddenly growled, her sign for caution. Immediately we were silent, and crept forward with care. It was still not wise, even in this world of open spaces, to go without caution, and for that reason I still carried my sword, and Aly her daggers.

We slunk through the scraggy brush that dominated the sides of the canyon and soon found ourselves looking upon the back of a man sitting on the edge of the cliff, legs dangling over the side. I frowned; there was something familiar about this man, though I could not quite put my finger on it.

He was a tall man, and from what I could see, of one of the tribes of Natives, though I could not say which one. He had long dark hair, and when he turned his head, I saw that his face was narrow, and handsome. Slowly I became aware of an aura of magic around him, shamanism to be exact, and suddenly I knew exactly who I was dealing with.

"Hao Asakura!" I called in Japanese, stepping out of the brush and into the open. He turned around, startled to hear someone speak in his native tongue. I suppressed a shudder looking into his impossibly dark eyes. There was burning anger there, so intense it could swallow a person whole. What had the calm, helpful man I'd met in the past become?

"Well, I didn't expect this." He said smoothly. "Did your ancestor tell you about me?"

"I know about you from myself." I replied. I purposely did not mention my 'immortality'. Even the most level of human beings are bewildered and often scared by the concept, and I did not like the half-mad sense that I was getting from Hao.

"Come sit." He invited. I wandered over, and Aly trotted after me, to sit down with my legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. "What is your name?"

"Kia." I replied. "But you should know that."

"Oh? Is it a family name passed down, or some form of honorific?" He asked me, his eyes sparking with interest.

"What do you think?" I replied cryptically, favouring him with my now signature mysterious smile. He gazed at me a moment before huffing softly.

"How did you know who I was?" He asked instead.

"Your power level may have grown, but it still feels the same." I replied. "I am assuming that you have been reincarnated, and that you facilitated that yourself."

"Yes, how do you know that?"

"You are self-aware, and if it was a random reincarnation, as most are, then you would not have awareness of your complete past. So, you chose to be born in this time. May I ask why?" I said curiously.

"Do you know what the Shaman King tournament is?" He asked me. I nodded my head. "I aim to become the Shaman King and rid the earth of the scourge of humanity." My ears shot straight up in shock and I stared into his feverishly mad eyes.

"Excuse me?" I asked incredulously, unable to believe what I was hearing from the man that had helped so many people just five hundred years ago.

"Come now, I don't know if you've been to Europe, but your kind is not viewed well, you should have no love of the human race. Look at what they do to the earth, to each other." Hao snarled.

"No, I do not see them that way. For all the bad there is more good." I replied stubbornly. "Darkness has clouded your vision, blinding you to the light."

"There is no more light." Hao said, and I sensed a touch of desperation in his voice. "You have not seen the things that I have little girl."

"Do not presume anything about me!" I snapped brusquely. "I have seen far more than you can ever imagine." I suddenly felt very old as I said those words and my shoulders slumped a little. "I have seen many things, and yet I still believe in the good of man."

"Foolish." Hao growled, turning his face away from me and staring bleakly at the scenery.

"How you've changed. Once upon a time you served life, as we do, but now you serve destruction." Hao bared his teeth at me in a furious snarl.

"I will make this world better."

"No matter how you hard you might try, hate never makes the world better." I responded. "Hate only begets Hao, someone as old as you should know that." Before he had a chance to reply I cupped his face in one hand, turning it so that he was trapped in my eyes. I saw the anger and the madness there, but beneath it, pain. I shook my head sadly at him. "Don't let darkness rule your life, Hao."

He said nothing as I got to my feet. I gave him one long last look before turning away, Aly and I heading away. "There is no redemption for the human race." He called as we moved. I turned back to him for a moment and shook my head again.

"I'm sorry for saying this, but I hope you fail." I told him regretfully and then turned my back on him and we headed on our way. Months later I found out he had been killed and I cried for the lost, lonely soul.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	10. Chapter 10

Wolf: Ok, same disclaimers apply!

Now we come to the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution. Cities were growing, in all parts of the world, and new towns springing up all the time as progress made it easier for people and goods to get from place to place. Even with my limited vision, it was clear to me that this urbanization, this push into the wild spaces, was not going to cease.

More and more supernaturals were migrating to cities and towns as their natural homes were destroyed or invaded. I was spending most of my time in the cities now, and it was getting to be a hassle trying to manoeuvre a cart through the busy streets. If the supernaturals were settling down in the cities, why not the Wanderers, as the supernaturals called those who brought their potions and charms to them, as well?

An idea formed slowly and I sent a dragonling to Isilia, asking for an audience to put forth my idea. Almost immediately I got a reply, and the council wanted to see me, to all hear this idea that I had. Aly and I hauled our butts to London, where the council was currently residing, as it was a huge center of commerce, perhaps even the center of the industrial world at that point.

The council was located in catacombs below the Parliament buildings, thanks to a previous member being also a Member of Parliament and finding the secret ways in. The note the dragonling had brought me contained an official letter granting me access to the Parliament building, otherwise we would not have been able to go inside.

The guards looked at me oddly when I showed him the note. I had discovered an intense dislike of dresses after realizing how much more freedom trousers offered, so when I was in the so-called civilized world, with their narrow ideas of what was prudent for women to wear, I often went around as a boy, in loose trousers to hide my tail, a shirt, a newsboy hat with a bandanna covering the ears and a vest. I looked like a well-off tradesman, which was sort of what I was.

Aly still liked her dresses. She wore a high-waisted dark shirt, and a long-sleeved, white blouse. We were supplied by the council with a purse for our needs. Things cost money, more so than ever these days, and they had no wish for their valued Wanderers to go unclothed, unsheltered and hungry.

The guard finally let us in after glancing at the letter multiple times. Between my size, the long ponytail and the tiny girl keeping in step with me, I could not fault him for his confusion. We stepped into the Parliament buildings, and immediately made our way to the secret chambers of the council. You wouldn't have known we were in a catacomb; it looked much like the Cabinet in the building above, although smaller and lit by torches.

"You are Kia the Ageless?" One of the members asked me as I stepped into the middle of the room. I did not recognise him, but it had been at least half a century since I'd last stood in front of the council, so I did not know many of the faces that looked at me curiously.

"I prefer Kia Quickpaw, if you please. The Ageless sounds presumptuous to me." I replied.

"As eloquent as always, old friend." Isilia chuckled. "Now, to business. In your message you said you had a proposition that would make things easier for supernaturals everywhere?"

"I did." I replied, rubbing my hand over Aly's head, earning her soft purring growl in response. "As we have seen over the last few centuries, cities and urban areas are growing at an alarming rate, with no end in sight. Supernaturals are finding themselves having to relocate to these cities in order to live."

"Yes, and what do is your point?" A youngish dragon glared at me. "Come on girl, speak up!" The older counsellor, looking to be his father, swatted him over the head, muttering about uppity younglings.

"My point is that since most of the supernaturals are now congregating in the cities, that the Wanderers should also settle down as well." I explained. "Set up shops in the city, where the supernaturals can go whenever they need, instead of having to wait for a Wanderer to wander through."

"It would be a more effective means of getting important information and goods to the community." Isilia mused.

"What of the humans, won't they see?" The same young dragon demanded, sneering at me. I held his eyes with mine and he had the sense to look a little nervous.

"If you had been paying attention to the way Wanderers work youngling, you will know that we use protection charms to hide the true nature of our goods from human eyes." I explained. "The same principle can be used on a shop, use the charms to deceive the eyes of humans to thinking there's nothing there, but allow supernatural eyes to see it."

"So what you're saying is that every city, and town should have one of these shops instead of having multitudes of Wanderers everywhere willy-nilly?"

"Precisely." I agreed. "We're entering a new age, we must keep up with the times." Isilia smiled.

"I think this is an inspired idea. I move to vote for these shops to be put into place, effective immediately." Every hand went up in that room, and that was when my title changed from Wanderer to shopkeeper.

%&%&%&%

And here we come close to the end of the tail, in the early stages of the twenty-first century. Aly and I had been shopkeepers for almost two centuries. We kept some of our wandering personality, staying in one city at most ten years before moving on. We were stationed in Domino city when things started getting interesting, though we were at the Patch village when it began.

I had been on a diplomatic mission of sorts. The Patch were certain that a local minotaur had been raiding their gardens, and I was sent to investigate. Since the minotaur in question had his own garden, I surmised that this wasn't the case and had prepared a report for the Patch, telling them to leave Fergus alone from then on.

Aly, Pippin and I were going to leave when I felt it. It is hard to describe what it felt like, but I will try. It was like a ripple that washed over me, bringing a sense of urgency and a feel that some crisis had been averted, but a new one was in place. I knew immediately that I was being summoned to help someone.

I followed the feeling like a hound tracking a scent, Aly trailing along behind loyally. My path took me to where the Great Spirit brightly shined. Respectfully, the two of us bowed, and I could feel its silent regard on us. It is difficult to explain what that feels like; the Great Spirit is neither benign, nor malevolent. It is a force of nature in itself, and so it just is.

The trail led me away, into the desert lands that surrounded the Great Spirit. As I walked I saw that someone else had been there not long ago. Meandering, staggering footsteps looped crazily in the sand and drips of dark red blood dotted the landscape in an alarming amount. Whoever was bleeding was losing blood far too quickly.

Aly growled and I looked up, seeing a figure sprawled out in the sand. The ripples I was feeling were emanating from them. I moved quickly, hearing the sound of ragged, bubbly breathing from the figure. Gently I turned them over onto their back and jerked in surprise.

Though he was younger, and a little different from when I'd last seen him, there was no mistaking Hao Asakura. There was also no mistaking that he was in some trouble. A long, bloody gash ran from his navel to his collarbone, still slowly oozing blood and coated with sand because of his collapse. As Kia watched, a small bead of blood trickled down from his mouth down the side of his face as he gasped for air.

"Hao Asakura.." I sighed. He jerked, but did not wake. "You tried again, didn't you? And you failed again." Gently I reached out to stroke his long chestnut hair. "How many more times will you try this?" I whispered. I sighed and closed my eyes. "My goddess, my mother earth, he used to serve you, but then turned to destruction. I am here because you wish him to be redeemed, aren't I?" of course I got no answer, but I knew anyways. "I serve life, and I will not leave this lonely, tormented man to die."

I carried a small shoulder bag with m and now I opened it, fumbling inside for a small vial. As I did so I frowned, feeling a lack of something that should have been there. I slowly understood that the lack I was feeling was the lack of shamanic powers I felt emanating from Hao.

"Seems this time you were punished. Did you try to take what was not yours to take?" I murmured to his prone form as I uncorked the vial and gently tipped a few drops down his throat. It was a healing potion, and ingested it would take care of any internal injuries that he had. After a moment his breathing grew less pained and I knew that it had worked.

I took the poncho he was wearing and wrapped it around his chest. I refrain from using too much of the healing potion, because it is difficult to make, and used in excess can compromise the body's natural immune system. When I had wrapped his wound I lifted him carefully into my arms and carried him to where there was a pair of griffins ready to take us home.

When we got there, I set about properly cleaning his wounds, and settled him into the spare bedroom in our apartment above our shop. Pippin seemed to have taken a liking to him, and curled up against Hao, humming softly. I smiled at the sweet picture, and left the room to open the shop for the day.

It was two days before Hao awoke, and he immediately was trying to get up. I was cooking breakfast when he staggered drunkenly out of the room, one hand on the wall. I summoned up my magic and put it into my voice as I spoke to him. "Hao Asakura, lie down, you need to heal!"

Hao looked at me in shock, and it looked as though he were going to try to fight it, but he was still too weak and his legs moved him back into the room, even though he was unwilling. I went in with a bowl of oatmeal a couple minutes later. He was sitting up in bed, a scowl on his face.

"Where am I?" he demanded.

"You are in Domino City, Japan." I replied, handing him the oatmeal and the spoon.

"What happened to my powers?" I lightly shrugged my shoulders.

"My best guess is that they were taken from you for whatever hubris you committed." My ears picked up the sound of someone in the shop downstairs and I left Pippin with him so that I could work.

Of course, if you are reading this Hao, you know the rest of the story, but for those that don't he stayed with me because he had nowhere else to go. He was angry and short-tempered. When Yugi showed up the first time, I sensed an opportunity and so would make excuses to leave him alone with Hao when he'd come into the shop.

What else is there to say? When the call came for me to protect the valley of shamans, I knew that adventure would bring our end. We agreed anyways, feeling the weight of our years more than ever. Do not be sad for us friends, we go onto a better place, and you will see us again. A few decades is nothing compared to eternity.

There it is then, my story. It was not as long in the telling as I thought, but then I only put in the events I found most important. If I were to tell everything I had ever seen, this tale would take a lifetime to read. So, my friends, I bid you all adieu, for the last time, and may life treat you as well as you deserve.

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Wolf: Review plz!


	11. Chapter 11

Wolf: Last chapter, epilogue

Epilogue

_So, my friends, I bid you all adieu, for the last time, and may life treat you as well as you deserve._

Hao closed the book, finding that tears were running down his face once again. A look around the room told him that everyone else was crying as well. Yoh leaned his head against Hao's shoulder, snuffling lightly, and Yugi had migrated into Atem's lap and his tears were being kissed away by Atem.

"It was her all along, every time that I saw her, I thought she was a descendent of the first, but I couldn't have been more wrong." Hao said hoarsely. "She cried for me." He whispered, leaning his own head on top of Yoh's.

"It was her in my first life too. I had often wished I would meet her again, but I never got to." Atem murmured.

"She could have become the leader of supernaturals, but she chose a less glamorous life." Yugi added. "She just wanted to help people."

"Poor Aly." Opacho added quietly. "Poor little vampire."

"Yeah, poor little Aly, having to go through that." Yoh whispered.

"They had a good life though, despite its bad beginnings." Hao observed, gently stroking Pippin's scales. "They've helped so many people."

"After serving Life for all this time, they will be well-welcomed in the halls of the gods." Atem said. "Perhaps even as a reward they will be given the status of gods themselves. There are stories that say it is possible."

"I can imagine them as goddesses, perhaps as protectors or goddesses of wisdom." Hao mused. He looked around the shop and sighed. "It feels so empty without them here, doesn't it?"

"It does." Yugi agreed. "It was like she was just a part of this place, and with her gone, there's something missing."

"So, what do we do now?" Yoh asked. Yugi licked his lips and looked at the letter Kia had left.

"We continue our legacy." He answered. "I'll do as she asked and take over the shop for her in Domino city, maybe we can take the enchantments off it now."

"We can help out from our home in Tokyo, I don't know maybe educate people on what shamanism really is?" Yoh suggested.

"That's a good idea." Hao replied. Atem lifted out a spell book with a sticky note peeking out of the top. He turned to the page and read the note.

_Atem, I've modified this spell so that it can use your Shadow Magic as its magic source. It will send any of the people that want to go back to the afterlife there. _

_Kia_

"I guess I should probably take this to my father and the others." Atem said, standing up. Yugi stood up as well, taking Atem's outstretched hand. Hao stayed sitting, a contemplative look on his face.

"What is it, aniki?" Yoh asked.

"I was just thinking about how Kia saved me, from dying and from myself." Hao admitted quietly, looking around the shop. "I plan to honour her memory by living the way she did, helping people."

"That's a good idea aniki." Yoh said, standing up. "I think people are getting ready to leave now, we should see what's going on."

"Yeah." Hao agreed, standing up and brushing his knees off. He took one last long look around the shop and then followed his brother outside. Atem and Yugi were there, but it seemed that they had already sent the Egyptians. Mana was still there, chattering happily at Yugi. Anna, Ren, Horohoro, Faust, Ryu, and the rest of Yoh's family were waiting expectantly.

"Come on you guys, we want to go home!" Horohoro bellowed. Yoh smiled and Hao shook his head slightly. Yugi ran over and hugged Hao tightly.

"You guys are going now?" He asked.

"Looks like it." Hao replied. Yugi hugged him again, and then Yoh.

"You better visit us, promise?" Yugi demanded, giving them the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could manage. Hao chuckled and ruffled his spiky hair fondly.

"We promise."

"Are you going to be heading out soon?" Yoh asked.

"Once we've cleaned up the shop." Atem replied. "There are things that need to go back with us."

"Right, we'll see you soon I guess." Hao said, bowing to the both of them. Yoh did the same thing and they walked over to where Yoh's friends and family were waiting.

"So, you're returning with us?" Ren asked Hao and Opacho.

"Yoh would probably drag me there against my will if I didn't agree." Hao replied with a faint grin. His grandfather still glared at him suspiciously, but everyone else seemed somewhat at ease with him.

"Man, Manta's going to have a hell of a surprise when he sees you." Horohoro laughed. Hao chuckled and summoned the Spirit of Fire.

"What's say we travel home in style?" He said, revelling in the feeling of his returned power. As he took one last long look around the valley, waving goodbye to Yugi and Atem, and stroking Pippin's head, he thought that things couldn't have turned out better, and it was all thanks to one incredible wolf-girl and her vampire assistant. He whispered up into the sky as they took off

"Rest in peace my friends, you've earned it."

THE END!


End file.
